First, you must actually be running a photography business and able to prove it.

Second, treating a hobby as a business can be a bigger pain in the ass. Usually you must have a business license with your State, County, and/or City. If you buy supplies with a Tax exemption you'll be dealing in the case of say CA with the State Board Of Equalization. You'll have to keep records of who you sold materials or used supplies to that would have had sales tax on, meaning you have to collect the sales tax from your clients or the government comes after you to pay it for everything you bought tax free. The State Board Of Equalization is much nastier than the IRS or Franchise Tax Board. Mess with them and they'll take your house yesterday!

(Answering your question partly) It should and probably must be Depreciated over many years (7, 10, 14, not sure what year class photo equipment is these days), never Expensed in one year. Film, Chemicals, Ink, Paper, Thumb Drives, Blank CD-R & DVD-R's can be Expensed as used in one tax year.

I'm not an accountant, but I used to do my own tax returns when doing photography during the 1980's.

With Income Property, Depreciation, Capital Gains (on our Investments), tax returns have gotten too complex for me to begin to do myself so I have a pricey Accountant do our taxes these days.

You should consult a tax accountant and or read thru the forms and guides on the Federal & your State income tax sites. The depreciation is certainly tabulated and calculated on your own forms (spread sheets) and only the final number(s) entered on a Schedule C. There is likely a form or schedule for a home photo business like there is for income property for individuals. Again you'll have to research it and find the needed information and sheets. Hint, use the price you paid for your equipment when you bought it, not ever it's current retail or wholesale price. And the IRS expects you to stick with your values unless you have good reason to change it and can document say an incorrect Base or Initial Value. A bummer is you basically loose depreciation not taken that you could have in previous years (say for equipment you had before starting a business) I'm not even sure of the terms they use today. Good luck! But don't do it. Just enjoy photography unless you are really a pro or an employee doing photography for someone else.

This thread is beginning to get silly. A strong suggestion yet again for the group. Stick to photography issues when giving advice. If you don't know what you are talking about, it is best to not speculate.

Capitalizing an asset does NOT avoid depreciation. Capitalization is what creates the need for depreciation. You are reading a legal encyclopedia and misinterpreting it. You are confusing capitalization with Section 179 depreciation. You are not going to learn how to optimize your tax position by Googling it. I don't care how "smart" you are.

Just curious - would people on this forum offer advice on how to cure the rash on my leg by reading a medical book?

Hopefully for the last time - if you need tax advice, this is not the place to get it. Ignore replies which are posted by non professional tax people. It is all just noise. Incorrect noise to boot.